I was in my early twenties when I read Elizabeth Berg's Pull of the Moon which is about a middle age woman rediscovering her life and herself. I read books based on writing style rather than the age of the characters. Nora Ephron's humour is relatable and when she talks about growing old you are interested and invested in reading her stories. I read the synopsis of Lydia's Party and was interested in Margaret Hawkins' novel...
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
LYDIA'S PARTY
Written by Margaret Hawkins
genre: literary fiction
2 STARS
It is late January and Lydia is throwing her annual winter party with the usual suspects - at one time or another were also her colleagues. As she preps for the evening she thinks about her friends, family, lovers and career over two decades. In between Lydia's thoughts we get each friend's story.
I found this story on the dull side. It was not the "middle age women thinking back on their lives" that bothered me. I have been reading books with this plot since I was in my mid-teens. Elizabeth Berg is one author that does well with this subject matter. I think it was the "tell" not "show" approach to the story and that it fell flat after a few pages. I really wanted to like this novel as it sounded promising. Personally I prefer Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler and Sue Miller.
http://margarethawkins.com/book_lydia.html
love,
kris
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